[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.91″ custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” next_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row custom_padding=”2px|0px|8px|0px” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Featured Image caption” _builder_version=”3.19.17″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px”]<\/p>\n
Hunter Bulloch, manager at Cottle Farms, assesses some of the initial damage to his strawberries after a cold front swept through the Midlands Wednesday night into Thursday morning.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.92″ custom_padding=”2px|0px|37.9062px|0px” prev_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0px|0px|18.9531px|0px” custom_margin=”10px|||” _builder_version=”3.0.92″][et_pb_column type=”2_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”News Story” _builder_version=”3.19.17″ custom_margin=”0px||0px|”]<\/p>\n
HOPKINS, S.C. – Thursday mornings\u2019 freezing temperatures had a drastic effect on farmers across the Midlands, and for Cottle Farms farmer Hunter Bulloch it was a race to save his strawberry plants from dying.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe planted late and so it\u2019s just kind of a mixture of the rain and the lake frost that has a little bit worried,\u201d said Bulloch, farm manager.<\/p>\n
In order to prevent the 300,000 strawberry plants from freezing, Bulloch and six other Cottle Farms employees put down multiple 50-by-500 feet row covers on top of the growing plants which provided an extra five degrees of protection.<\/p>\n
“Thirty degrees is what it takes to freeze the flowers. Last night the temperature four feet from the ground was 27 and in the ground was 22,\u201d said Bulloch.<\/p>\n
Bulloch, who has managed his family\u2019s forty-year old farm for four years,\u00a0 is expecting to take the covers off of the plants over the weekend as the weather warms up.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe expected our flowers to open up in a couple of weeks,\u201d said Bulloch.<\/p>\n
The farm expected to<\/span> open to the public for the 2019 season in just two weeks, but after the cold front Bulloch is unsure about when opening day will be.<\/p>\n \u201cI would be happy if we were able to pay everybody and just be able to get in here and do it again next year,” Bulloch said. “Hopefully it will be a decent year. We are optimistic about it, but it\u2019s a challenge for sure.”<\/p>\n With warmer weather on its way, Cottle Farms is hoping the season will be as successful as years past. Most of their business comes from families with children who enjoy picking the strawberries together.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just fun interacting with people of all different ages and we have a good mix of people come out here. It\u2019s fun to watch them have fun,\u201d said Bulloch.<\/p>\n Even with a major setback, Bulloch and the rest of his Cottle Farms staff are keeping positive as opening day awaits.<\/p>\n \u201cHopefully we have more strawberries than we know what to do with.\u201d<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 1″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.19.17″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/0307StrawberriesW1redo.jpg”]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 1″ _builder_version=”3.19.17″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”8px|||2px” custom_padding=”|||”]<\/p>\n Cottle Farms, located in Hopkins, has felt the effects of the cold front that has swept through the Midlands. Owners are preparing to open to the public for their 2019 strawberry season in a couple of weeks.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 2″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.19.17″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/0307StrawberriesW2.jpg”]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 2″ _builder_version=”3.19.17″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”8px|||2px” custom_padding=”|||”]<\/p>\n The strawberries that are in bloom and developing freeze in temperatures below 30 degrees.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 3″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.19.17″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/0307StrawberriesW3.jpg”]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 3″ _builder_version=”3.19.17″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”8px|||2px” custom_padding=”|||”]<\/p>\n Row covers have been placed over the 300,000 strawberry plants at Cottle Farms to add five degrees of warmth to the plants for protection from the cold temperatures.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 4″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.19.17″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/0307StrawberriesG1MM.jpg”]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 4″ _builder_version=”3.19.17″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”8px|||2px” custom_padding=”|||” background_layout=”light”]<\/p>\n Image 1 caption goes here.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Cottle Farms is covering its 300,000 strawberry plants as colder temperatures hit the Midlands.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":164,"featured_media":18945,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[118,652],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18935"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/164"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18935"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18935\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18973,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18935\/revisions\/18973"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}